The Whitechapel Centre supports people from all parts of the community and employs a native Polish speaker, Aleksandra Rybinska, to work with people from Eastern Europe. This week Aleks was able to undertake some crisis intervention work which allowed an unwell man to get immediate health care and re-unite him with his family. 60 year-old Jan (name changed to protect his identity) was found wandering in the city by the police. He did not speak English and couldn’t remember the last 3 days. He was brought to The Whitechapel Centre and was seen by Aleks. He explained that he didn’t know why he was in Liverpool. Aleks was able to contact his family in Poland who had reported him missing and feared the worst. Jan is a businessman in Poland and has no addictions or known problems. Aleks then took Jan to hospital and stayed with him until 9pm, when he was admitted to a ward. Aleks interpreted for doctors and kept him calm. It appears that Jan had serious physical health issues which had caused him to act out of character and take a plane to the UK. These problems also caused his memory loss. Jan is now getting the treatment he needs and Aleks is staying in touch with his family to keep them updated on his progress. Jan is hoping to return to his family as soon as he is well enough to travel. Aleks's wonderful work has not gone unnoticed. Last year she was awarded for her work in supporting the Polish Community in Merseyside by the Polish Consulate. We are very pleased to have her working with us.

The Whitechapel Centre hosted a day of celebration last Friday (11 April) holding its Spring End of Term Awards. After another busy three months, it was a great chance to recognise the achievement of many of our service users who regularly attend and contribute to our enablement courses and other programmes, from IT classes to Tuesday’s football club. It was a well-attended event and guests were treated to an impressive spread of food as well as to live music by Jamie Ibison, local performer, on the guitar. Certificates were awarded by Enablement Centre Manager, Alison Benbow, who highlighted the rich programme of activities provided by Whitechapel, each offering opportunities to gain new skills and confidence, and congratulated all who had made an effort to take part. At The Whitechapel Centre there is truly something for everyone whatever your interests or level of ability; all that is required is enthusiasm. Since the New Year, we have added several new activities to our timetable including Monday’s Guided Cycle Ride through the local area – in partnership with the project Bike Right – and a six week cookery course offered with support from Liverpool FC. We look forward to continuing to offer an exciting and varied programme to our local community in the future. If you’d like to get involved or offer support, do get in touch. Special thanks go to all our Whitechapel Volunteers who were a stalwart presence on the day and to all who made the event possible with their presence.Click here to see the latest Activities Timetable

Peter Fraser from The Whitechapel Centre was named a national Heat Hero by fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) last week for his contribution to tackling fuel poverty in Liverpool. Peter and his nominator, Sarah Underwood, traveled to London on Tuesday to pick up his award.

The Heat Hero Award Scheme recognises individuals across England and Wales who have gone ‘above and beyond’ in helping people who are living in fuel poverty in their local community. The Awards are supported by ScottishPower.

Peter works as a floating support worker for us on our Dual Diagnosis team and was nominated by his manager, Sarah Underwood. Peter works with vulnerable people in the community who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness, many also have mental health issues or substance use issues. Many of Peter's clients are often close to being evicted and he offers support by visiting clients in their own homes and helping them to address their issues. This can include support with managing debts, resolving benefits problems and budgeting. Many clients are isolated from friends and family and Peter encourages them to engage in activities in their communities to build up social networks. His hard work has helped many vulnerable people manage to keep their heating on over winter.

Peter said: “I am over the moon to be chosen as a Heat Hero by NEA and ScottishPower, it is worth all of the hard work when you know that you have helped people in the local community to stay warm in their homes. It is a team effort though and colleagues at The Whitechapel Centre deserve the credit too”.

Maria Wardrobe, Director of External Affairs, NEA said: “Our heat heroes’ are vital to the lives of people in their communities. Many fuel poor households are isolated and vulnerable and difficult to reach, it is important that we give credit to people like Peter who are working tirelessly to help these people to stay warm and well in their homes.”

Steve Rotherham MP said “I am delighted that we have people like Peter working to help vulnerable people in Liverpool Walton.”

Neil Clitheroe, CEO, ScottishPower Retail and Generation said: “We are proud to be sponsoring the Heat Heroes Awards for a third year. The hard work and commitment shown by these dedicated individuals within communities is crucially important in helping to tackle fuel poverty. On behalf of ScottishPower I’d like to congratulate all the nominees and winners.”

On Tuesday we received a joint visit from Bishop Tom Williams and Bishop Richard Blackburn. The visit is part of a national initiative supported by Archbishop Justin Welby and Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

The Bishops spent time with service users, volunteers and staff - finding out about the centre’s work supporting people who are homeless and sleeping rough. This visit comes during a week when the Archbishop and Cardinal are jointly visiting and praying for social projects. It emphasises the strong relationships between the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church and their desire to work together, where possible, for the common good. Liverpool has a strong historic relationship which shows how that can benefit the community and both Bishop Richard and Bishop Tom were keen to demonstrate their support for this. Bishop Richard, the Bishop of Warrington, said “it is our absolute duty as Christians to work to support the most vulnerable in our society. This reflects the mission and ministry of Jesus – to be alongside the least and the lost. The Whitechapel Centre is an excellent example of these values in practice and I pray our joint visit will highlight the need for all Christians to work together to build a better society”.

David Carter, Chief Executive of the Whitechapel Centre, said, "We are delighted to welcome the two Bishops to the Whitechapel Centre and hope their visit will help to raise awareness of people who are homeless and living in poverty. It comes at a time when more and more people are asking for help, we have seen a 27% increase in demand for our services in the past year. Like all homeless charities we increasingly rely on the amazing generosity and goodwill of the strong faith community across Merseyside and are very grateful for their continuing support."During their visit the Bishops were interviewed by Helen Jones for BBC Radio Merseyside. You can listen to their conversation on Sunday 13th April around 8am on Helen's Daybreak show.

Being admitted to hospital can be a daunting experience at the best of times, but for homeless patients it can increase the feeling of exclusion from the rest of society. Despite the care from nursing staff, a lack of visits from family and friends, no money for “treats” such as TV or magazines and knowing they may face a return to the streets, can leave patients lonely and depressed. This provides us with an invaluable opportunity to link in with homeless patients at a time when they are most likely to be motivated to make positive changes in their lives. Since October The Whitechapel Centre has been leading on a 6 month pilot “Hospital Outreach Service”, in partnership with other agencies. The service aims to prevent patients from returning to sleeping rough and to improve communication between hospitals, GPs and accommodation providers. The team of 3 outreach workers are based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Whiston Hospital. In the first 15 weeks the team assessed 108 people and ensured 80% were discharged to appropriate accommodation. There are a number of reasons why we did not secure a housing solution for the remainder – some were transferred to other hospitals for on going treatment and others took their own discharge so did not give us a chance to help them with their housing. Karen Ryan, who is part of the team at the Royal, explains “As well as practical help finding somewhere for homeless people to go, we also provide support and encouragement during their stay. Often our clients would not get any visitors and, like everyone else, they appreciate a friendly face. This has helped some to stay in and complete their treatment where previously they may have self discharged. The staff at the Royal are really supportive of our clients and want to help them to make changes to improve their health. Being discharged with somewhere to go to means medical care can be followed up and health is less likely to deteriorate. Staff now know to call us if they have anyone experiencing homelessness.” The pilot concludes in April but we are looking at how agencies can work together to ensure the positive work continues for homeless patients.